How in the world do a couple of regular guys with an idea for a new kind of bicycle, end up getting it manufactured in Asia and shipped all the way here?

Just ask inventor Jeffrey Gaudynski, a retired factory worker.

Right in his garage in West Allis, he tinkered into existence the bicycle that has two rear wheels yielding added balance. Or ask real estate man Eric Lenz of Greendale, who took the lead in figuring out how to get the dual-wheel bicycle manufactured. With the first 200 bicycles having just arrived, he's now working on getting them sold.

"I'm really in awe that we've gotten this far," Gaudynski marveled at his home on 77th Street.

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From a garage in West Allis, a new kind of more stable bicycle has arisen. Inventor Jeffrey Gaudynski stands at the garage door with the first model he built (purple one in back) and the model that is fresh from the manufacturer that is now for sale.(Photo: Jane Ford-Stewart/Now News Group)

For grandson

He never even thought of manufacturing the bikes when he welded and bent a new kind of bicycle for his grandson, Bennett, he said. Bennett was 6 or 7 years old when Gaudynski bought him a bicycle and training wheels, he said. A year later, Bennett still wasn't able to ride.

"Training wheels give no sense of balance," Gaudynski said.

So, off to Goodwill grandpa went. His plan was to buy a bunch of bicycles to cobble together a better one for Bennett to learn on. He taught himself to weld. Then he tried this, he tried that, and he had to throw out a couple of experimental models. But finally, he hit upon one that worked well.

"Within 20 minutes, he was riding," the proud grandpa said.

Eric Lenz(Photo: Eric Lenz/Submitted)

Helps balance

He and Lenz said the dual rear wheel bikes are also good for autistic children or anyone with balance problems, or for youngsters who just want to horse around.

Their first manufacturing run was of 16-inch bikes, perfect for ages 4 to 7, they said. Soon, they want to put into production adult-size mountain bikes, depending on sales, Gaudynski said.

The 16-inch bikes sell for $170, including shipping to anywhere in the continental United States at duallybikes.com, Lenz said.

After that first bike, Gaudynski soon made more for other grandchildren and a mountain bike for his wife. They would have remained just a novelty in the neighborhood except for Gaudynski's long-time friend and painter Joe Smith. As owner of Smith Customs, he has painted flashy designs on motorcycles for decades.

He worked his color magic on the new bicycles and proudly showed them off on his company website. That's where Lenz spotted them and and the opportunity the idea presented.

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Dually bicycle inventor Jeffrey Gaudynski stands in his garage workshop with the first dually bicycle to be manufactured. The purple bike behind it is the first working model of the dually bike that Gaudynski developed.(Photo: Jane Ford-Stewart/Now News Group)

Heading overseas

The two got together and plunged into a world of manufacturing, prototypes, specs, shipping schedules, tariffs, forklifts and trucking.

Amazingly, they pulled the whole thing off with Lenz at his computer in Greendale and Google.

But where to begin?

They started with the few American bicycle makers, including Trek which makes bikes in Wisconsin, and Kent International Inc. They told them they have created a new kind of bicycle. Nope. No interest, Lenz said.

That drove them overseas.

Alibaba magic

Once again, Lenz sat down at his computer. This time he Googled Alibaba, a site he had heard of.

"Alibaba is an internet portal in China that has made many millionaires," he said.

Suddenly, a whole list of companies appeared, responding to his search for bicycle manufacturers. They picked some promising companies and emailed them.

"We had a good response back," Lenz said.

Taiwan connection

With a patent pending on the new bike and the companies having signed a non-disclosure and non-compete agreement, the duo with the dual rear wheel bike shipped frames and sets of wheels that Gaudynsky turned out to those most promising manufacturers. They included notes as to how the manufacturers would need to make only minor adjustments to bikes they were already making to manufacture the dually bikes.

Because the adjustments seemed so minor, they hoped they could get by with sending the hands-on models, instead of designs with specifications, Lenz said.

The Chinese manufacturers didn't really take to it, but they managed, he said. To his relief, language was no barrier, he said.

Manufacturer picked

They chose a manufacturer in Taiwan that would make a first run of just 200 bicycles. Not having to manufacture thousands of bikes in that first run greatly reduced their investment. That was a relief, as a previous effort at crowdfunding through Kickstarter fell just short of the goal, Lenz said.

However, despite the small run, tens of thousands of dollars are on the line.

The next problem was getting the new bicycles here from Taiwan.

The manufacturer pointed the two toward shipping lines and railroad and truck connections. It also gave them a general idea of the cost, including an 11 percent tariff to bring the bikes into the US, Lenz said.

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The first dually bicycles stand in front of the garage of their inventor, Jeffrey Gaudynski. Both feature the dual rear tires that give the bicycles more stability. The bike in the back was the first working model. The green bike in front is from the first batch of newly manufactured dually bicycles.(Photo: Jane Ford-Stewart/Now News Group)

Production rolls

After Lenz had attended to a million details such as whether forklifts can transfer boxes of bikes from ship to train or train to trucks, the pair signed on the dotted line and the production line rolled in far off Taiwan.

Eventually, they would like to be able to bring production to the United States, Lenz said. But for now, the first batch of the shiny new bikes rolled off the assembly line, were loaded onto a ship that took a month to sail to its destination of Long Beach, California. There they were transferred to a train that took them across the country to Chicago. From there, they were trucked the final leg and into another problem.

Now what?

Where do you put 200 bicycles while you try to sell them?

Warehouses are nice, but you need staff. Lenz had already solved the problem by having the bikes shipped to a warehouse in Oak Creek that several businesses share, spreading out the cost.

Getting the bikes to customers was another problem for these two "ordinary guys."

Little Addison Ray Thurmer has an easier time learning to balance on a two-wheeler with the dual rear wheel. Addie is a granddaughter of the brother of Eric Lenz, who is part of the two-man team originating and bringing the dually bicycle to market.(Photo: Eric Lenz/submitted)

Right now, Lenz is the shipping department. When an order comes in, he goes to the warehouse and puts a label on it with the name and where it's going. But he doesn't lick a stamp and lug the boxed bike to the post office.

To customers

He had earlier Googled shipping options. Being too small to get deep discounts from FedX and UPS,Lenz found their little company, Dually Bikes LLC, still is able to take advantage of the volume discounts ShipMyBike.com gets, he said.

The bikes arrive needing only the seat, handlebars and rear tires to be attached to the frame and the pedals attached to the crank, Lenz said.

He had tested the waters of the bikes selling in stores at bike shops and got a rather chilly reception. However, with so many people shopping online these days, he is just as happy to go the online route, he said.

Hopes for Amazon

He hopes to be on Amazon as soon as he can clear his Amazon uniform product code that for some reason is being used by someone else, he said.

But like everything else in this full-time job in addition to his full-time job, "It's a time consuming process."

The whole ride has been wild and touching, Gaudynski said.

"I've tinkered with things my whole life to make life easier for me or my family," he said. "Now I've touched not only the lives of my grandchildren, but have been able to share my ideas with people all over."

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